Senate Bill 1603 Summary

• Requires all hospitals to comply with federal price transparency requirements under 45 CFR Part 180 and authorizes the Department of Health Services to verify compliance annually with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

• Mandates the Department of Health Services to post an annual report on its website by January 1st each year listing hospitals found noncompliant with federal price transparency rules and assessed civil monetary penalties.

• Requires health care facilities with more than 50 inpatient beds to publicly disclose direct pay prices for at least the 50 most used diagnosis-related group codes and 50 most used outpatient service codes, updated annually.

• Requires health care facilities with 50 or fewer inpatient beds to publicly disclose direct pay prices for at least 35 most used diagnosis-related group codes and 35 most used outpatient service codes, updated annually.

• Prohibits health care systems from punishing patients or providers for direct payment arrangements and prevents government entities from approving, disapproving, or limiting published direct pay prices.

• Exempts Veterans Administration facilities, military base health facilities, Indian health services facilities, tribal clinics, and the Arizona State Hospital from price transparency requirements.